Nokia has officially revealed the new Nokia Lumia 625 smartphone. Based on a 4.7-inch touchscreen the new Lumia 625 is the largest Lumia so far and is actually the only large screen budget smartphone based on Windows Phone 8 OS.

Although it is far from impressive with its internal specs and even its 4.7-inch 800x480 IPS LCD screen, the Lumia 625 still fills an important part of the market and it will certainly find its fair share of buyers. Featuring Qualcomm's 1.2GHz clock dual-core Snapdragon S4 CPU paired up with 512MB of RAM, new Nokia Lumia 625 will not get high in any benchmark, but will still be enough to run Windows Phone 8.

The new Nokia Lumia 625 comes with a 5-megapixel rear and VGA front cameras, 8GB of internal storage with 7GB of free Skydrive and support for microSD card, LTE 4G, Bluetooth 4.0, 802.11bng WiFi, GPS with GLONASS and bunch of Nokia Apps to compliment the Windows Phone experience.

Nokia Lumia 625 should be available in Europe, China, Asia, India, Middle East, Africa and Latin America in Q3 2013 with variety of color options and have a €220 price tag (excluding VAT).

HTC is said to be working on a new Windows Phone 8 device that should share quite a few chromosomes with the HTC One. It won’t be identical though, but it should look a lot like the company’s Android flagship.

There’s still no word on the exact spec. It is said to feature a screen in the 4- to 5-inch range, a mostly metal body, Beats Audio and GDR3 update for Windows Phone. We’d be terribly disappointed if we didn’t see an Ultrapixel camera as well.

The HTC One sports a 4.7-inch 1080p display, while the 8X has a 4.3-inch 720p display, so there’s certainly room for a bigger screen on the new Windows flagship. In addition, GDR3 should finally bring support for 1080p displays, which could allow HTC to borrow the One’s impressive screen for the new phone.

Redmond plans to update Windows Phone 8 later this year, with a focus on new form factors and screen resolutions.

According to The Verge, the update will bring support for 1080p displays for 5-inch devices, and possibly even some bigger gear. Android flagships are already at 1080p, although we’re still not convinced that 1080p makes much sense on sub 5-inch devices.

In addition to high res screens, the update will also feature support for new Qualcomm chips. This means we should see Windows Phone 8 devices based on Snapdragon 600 and Snapdragon 800 SoCs by the end of the year.

It is still unclear when the update will land, we can only guess that it will be ready in time for the holiday season.

LG is apparently planning to launch its first Windows phones later this year.

According to the Korea Times, LG is planning the Windows Phone 8 push as part of a wider strategy to boost phone shipments in 2013. LG hopes to ship 75 million phones this year, up from 55 million in 2012.

The report also states that LG will enter the phablet space, with a 5.5-inch 1080p device coming in February.

An LG representative told the Korea Times that the company will release “quite a number of new Optimus devices” this year and that it already has some Windows Phone 8 devices in the works.

However, increasing shipments by about 35 percent won’t be easy. LG is facing stiff competition from Samsung, as well as makers of low-cost smartphones such as ZTE and Huawei.

According to a report over at Bloomberg, HTC apparently ditched its plans for a large-screen Windows Phone 8 device.

It appears that despite earlier leaked roadmap that showed a "Zenith" flagship smartphone with 4.7-inch Super LCD 2 display and quad-core Qualcomm CPU, it appears that we will not see it anytime soon. Apparently, HTC does not want to do a large screen WP8 as it will end up with a lower resolution when compared to the competition.

The current HTC WP8 flagship, the HTC 8X features a 4.3-inch Super LCD 2 screen with 1280x720 screen which is a long way from the 1080p screen on HTC's Droid DNA/Butterfly Android flagship. Nokia Lumia 920 has a few pixels more and a bit more screen real estate with a 4.5-inch 1280x768.

Looks like WP8 will be still stuck with compact and mid-range screens, at least if you ask HTC.

Stephen Elop, CEO of the company that turned from mobile phone Goliath into mid-rangeish David, just had a live Q&A at Engadget and, among other things, shed some light on the company’s WP8 dealings, new launches and tablet plans.

Elop was asked what the company plans to do if Windows Phone 8 doesn’t work out for the company, and whether Nokia has a contingency plan. He said the company’s strategy is based on a war of ecosystems. He said Apple, Android and Windows Phone are the main participants and that Nokia simply chose a side for “this current war”.

However, he pointed out that the company is always on the lookout and “working on” what comes next. He added: “that's not about going sideways or backwards ... but rather how the mobile world evolves. How do user experiences evolve? What role does HTML5 play? etc. etc. So, today we fight with Windows Phone while we lead the world forward and beyond.”

At the same time, the company today launched budget oriented Asha 308 and 309, which should lead the world not-as-forward and sort-of-beyond. These 3 inch, WQVGA capacitive touchscreen smartphones will retail for $99 and run 800MHz CPUs, 2MP cameras, 2GB microSD (up to 32GB support), 1,110mAh batteries and the new Nokia Xpress Browser that reduces data costs.

Asked about Nokia’s plans to make a Windows 8 tablet, Elop was somewhat elusive and confirmed that the company hasn’t announced anything yet in that space. However, he did say that “the visibility of the "Metro" (ooops, can't call it that) experience is going to drive a lot more visibility for our products. At Nokia, we definitely believe in the importance of that common experience.”

As we draw closer to the official Microsoft Windows Phone 8 launch date more and more devices are showing up and HTC will certainly be in the starting lineup. At its media event in New York, HTC has announced two smartphones that will be running on Windows Phone 8 OS, the flagship Windows Phone 8X and a rather mid-range Windows Phone 8S.

The Windows Phone 8X is not going to break any benchmark records and certainly does not have any impressive specifications, but these are apparently quite enough for Microsoft's Windows Phone 8 OS. It features a 4.3-inch 1280x720 (341ppi) touchscreen placed behind Gorilla Glass 2. The HTC Windows Phone 8X is powered by a Qualcomm S4 Plus (MSM8260A) 1.5GHz dual-core CPU, has 1GB of RAM memory, 16GB of storage, has an 8MP rear camera with BSI sensor and f/2.0 lens, 2.1MP front camera with an 88-degree wide lens, NFC chip, 802.11abgn WiFi (2.4 & 5GHz), Bluetooth 2.1, Beats Audio, uses microSIM, and has a 1800mAh battery.

The precise dimensions are set at 132.35x66.2x10.12mm and it weighs 130 grams with battery. The design itself is rather strange or should we say too close to what we have seen on Nokia's recent smartphones and it will apparently be available in a couple of different color choices named as California Blue, Flame Red, Graphite Black and Limelight Yellow.

As noted, the HTC Windows Phone 8S is a rather mid-range smartphone and has a 4-inch 800x480 touchscreen with Gorilla Glass and is powered by Qualcomm's MSM8227 1GHz dual-core CPU. It also comes with 512MB of RAM memory, 4GB of storage space expandable via microSD card, 5MP f/2.8 rear camera with autofocus and LED flash capable of recording 720p video, 802.11bgn WiFi (2.4GHz) Bluetooth 2.1, Beats Audio and a 1700mAh battery.

The precise dimensions of the HTC Windows Phone 8S are set at 120.5x63x10.28mm and it weighs 113 grams with battery. It resembles its bigger 8X sibling in terms of design and it will be available with the same choice of colors.

According to our sources, the Windows Phone 8X and Windows Phone 8S will be available in Europe (or at least in the DACH region) in early November with a price tag set at €549 for the Windows Phone 8X and €299 for the Windows Phone 8S.

For consumers tired of Apple’s underwhelming updates and Android fragmentation, there will finally be a third way.

Redmond is reportedly shipping the RTM version of Windows Phone 8 to manufacturers ahead of the October 29 launch and if all goes well we should see the first devices in October.

Although Windows Phone 7.x has been with us for a while now, it never really grew into a proper alternative to iOS and Android. There are quite a few reasons for this, limited number app, poor choice of devices, lack of carrier support and Microsoft’s draconian hardware limitations to name but a few.

However, Windows Phone 8 Apollo addresses most if not all of these shortcomings. Apollo phones will feature the latest Qualcomm S4 dual-core parts, they will support 720p screens, more storage and optional microSD support. The number of WP apps is growing fast and to top it all off Windows RT is also on the way, which opens a range of possibilities.

Although Windows Phone 7.x devices will never get an Apollo update, they will be updated to Windows Phone 7.8, with a new UI styled like Apollo.

However, although WP8 looks great on paper, Microsoft has a really limited window of opportunity to take on Apple and Google, as the smartphone market is already saturated and Microsoft needs more than a good OS to make a dent in it. For lack of a better word, it needs a lucky break and the patent wars, if they escalate, could be just that.

Samsung might have stolen all the glory with the first officially announced Windows Phone 8 Ativ S smartphone but Nokia is apparently preparing its own Lumia 920 for launch on September 5th and it might have an ace or two hidden up its sleeve. According to a post over at TheVerge.com, the Nokia Lumia 920 is expected to be officially announced for the USA AT&T customers on Wednesday, September 5th.

Pictures of the Lumia 920 already showed up last week and apparently Nokia plans to equip Lumia 920 with wireless charging. Many companies have talked about wireless charging and it appears that it is finally here. An inductive method will be employed and the wireless charging system will support the Qi wireless power standard, so it should be compatible with other wireless charging products. TheVerge also managed to snatch a picture of the "wireless charging dock" and apparently it will be available for both Lumia 820 and the Lumia 920.

Specs wise, Nokia Lumia 920 will feature a dual-core 1.5GHz CPU, 1GB of RAM and 32GB of storage, all placed behind a 4.5-inch HD display. Nokia brands the Lumia 920 camera as Pureview thanks to some image stabilization and camera software but it will be an 8-megapixel one rather than 41-megapixel seen on the Lumia 808 smartphone.

As noted by TheVerge.com, Nokia is expected to announce the device for AT&T customers on Wednesday, while the launch is expected in late October/early November.

Samsung has inadvertently leaked two Windows Phone 8 devices in court documents submitted as part of its ongoing Apple trial. Well, one the ongoing Samsung vs Apple trials.

Codenamed Odyssey and Marco, the phones boast Windows Phone 8 and they are powered by Qualcomm’s MSM8960 SoC, clocked at 1.5GHz. According to the documents, both phones should launch in Q3, but it is worth noting that they could just be design concepts that will never find their way to market.

According to the document, revealed by The Verge, Odyssey will feature LTE, HSPA+ 21, 4.65-inch HD SuperAMOLED screen and an 8-megapixel camera. Marco also packs LTE, HSPA+ 21, but it has a 4-inch WVGA screen and a 5-megapix camera.

Pretty nice specs, especially if you consider hardware restrictions imposed on current generation Windows Phones. However, the court filing does not reveal how much storage Samsung will stick on its first Apollo phones, or if they will feature a microSD slot.